One fifth of all people on earth have no access to safe drinking water. That means more than 1.2 billion people use contaminated water to meet their everyday needs. Contaminated water takes a terrible toll. Each day 25,000 people die from cholera, typhoid, dysentery and other diseases caused by micro-organisms in the water they drink. On a yearly basis the sum is an astonishing 9 million deaths of which more than 3 million are children under the age of five. This water problem does not stand still. The World Health Organization estimates that in the next twenty five years there will be some two billion people without safe drinking water.
In developing countries waterborne diseases often present the greatest risk to human health. Water supplies may be biologically contaminated by sewage effluents that mix with floodwaters, or physically contaminated with soil and mud that enter the water supply and hinder disinfection efforts. Further, in addition to waterborne pathogens, harmful chemicals (e.g., nitrates and pesticides) are also typically found in flood water under such conditions. Yet this is not limited to only third world countries, in the developed world water supplies may also be compromised by, for example, natural disaster.
Contaminated water can have two components of contamination. These two contamination components are referred to as a biological load and a physical load. Biological load of the water is a reference to the level of biological contaminants in the water. The physical load of the water refers to the total level of suspended solids, dissolved solids, organic carbon, and turbidity in the water.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,936,176 teaches a transportable water treatment system, which is incorporated herein by reference. This system includes: an inlet adapted to receive water having a pressure of between 10 to 60 psig, a primary regenerable filter connected so as to receive water that has flown through the inlet, the primary regenerable filter configured to separate solids from water flowing therethrough, a secondary regenerable filter, the secondary regenerable filter connected downstream from the primary regenerable filter, and a chemical feed unit connected downstream of the secondary regenerable filter. The chemical feed unit is configured to treat water flowing through introduction of chemicals to the water. A water discharge pipe is adapted to discharge treated water from the chemical feed unit, where the inlet, the primary regenerable filter, the secondary regenerable filter, the chemical feed unit, and the discharge pipe make up a transportable water treatment system that is adapted to fit within a bed of a sub-compact pickup truck.
However, this system can be improved. For example, the footprint of the system, i.e., the amount of floor space the system takes up, is rather large (see FIG. 1 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,936,176). Thus, there is a need to create a system that has a smaller footprint and takes up less floor space. In addition, this system requires it to be setup once on site, which typically takes two to three hours (see Column 2, Lines 6-7 of U.S. Pat. No. 6,936,176). This is obviously not ideal in some remote locations. Thus, there is a need for a system that may be assembled and shipped ready to use from the factory.
US Patent application no. 2006/0191833 teaches a pressurized erosion chlorinator, which is incorporated herein by reference. This chlorinator was designed to operate in a water treatment system. This erosion chlorinator has a contact chamber with a water inlet flow orifice at the first end and a water discharge orifice in the side wall. Both orifices are in communication with the contact chamber. Seated within the contact chamber is an inverted cone having a narrow end and a wide end. The orifice at the narrow end is in communication with the water inlet orifice. An elongated chlorine tablet chamber is provided, the first end of which is in communication with the second end of the contact chamber and extends into the contact chamber, but is spaced from the wide end of the inverted cone. The second end of the elongated chlorine chamber has a flange around the circumference, an O-ring and an end plate where the O-ring is engaged between the flange and the end plate. This configuration of the chlorinator allows it to be used in a pressurized system.
However, this erosion chlorinator can be improved. For example, the erosion of the chlorine tablets within the chlorinator has been found to be irregular which makes the chlorination or treatment of the water irregular. Thus, in order to regulate the treatment of the water, the erosion of the chlorine tablets needs to be improved. Another problem with this chlorinator is that the tube that holds the chlorine tablets and its associated lid are very difficult to close and seal. Thus, there is a need for a device that holds the chlorine tablets that is easier to close and seal the tablets.
The instant invention is designed to address the above mentioned problems.